


Traditions and Special Occasions

by city_bright



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 14:32:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12583940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/city_bright/pseuds/city_bright
Summary: Best Man AU - let's just pretend Danny wasn't so Danny, and everything was fine, and he went to the going away party for Mindy's parents





	Traditions and Special Occasions

**Author's Note:**

> literally just an excuse to have Danny see Mindy in a sari tbh, no shame lol
> 
> the title has no meaning to it, it was the first thing i thought of, and i'm the worst at them.

Fuck, he was going to be late. The thing he hates most in this world is lateness. Granted, it wasn’t his fault because procedures don’t always go to plan, but still. It irks him to his very core because the one time being on time truly matters is the one time he’s late. He takes a quick shower after his procedure, grabs his bag containing the carefully curated gifts for Mindy’s parents from his locker and rushes to Penn Station.

His leg is bouncing up and down from restlessness, and there’s not much he can do at this point about being late, but it doesn’t mean he hates it any less. He arrives at South Station after what feels like days and takes the short cab ride to the restaurant, where the party is still as lively as he heard over the phone earlier, even though it's nearing 1 am. He walks inside, and everyone is having too good of a time to pay him any mind, for which he is grateful. He looks around for Mindy, and he hears her laugh, even amongst the hustle and bustle of the ballroom space. He follows it like a lifeline, weaving through the crowd towards her direction, until he sets his sight on her. 

The wind gets knocked out of him, his breath taken away by how beautiful she looks. She’s standing tall, brushing a hand over her shoulder to adjust the extra fabric of her sari before settling over her stomach - their son - and he counts his lucky stars. He smiles and closes the distance between them. 

“Mindy.” She’s a little surprised to see him by her side, but he kisses her cheek as he brushes his hand over their child, and she visibly relaxes. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

She shakes her head. “It’s okay. You’re here now.” She turns back to her cousins and friends and introduces him, who all give her an impressed look. He picks up on it and makes a good show of it, standing slightly behind her, his chest to her back, and securely wraps an arm around her. They begin talking about one thing or another, he doesn’t know, but then they’re alone and it’s just the two of them. 

“You look beautiful.” She looks at him through her long lashes and smiles brightly at his compliment.

“Actually, I think this is the first time you’ve seen me in a sari.” She twirls ever so slightly, and the gold detail catches the light, and she seems more radiant than ever.

“Not the last time, I hope.” He threads his fingers through her hair and kisses her deeply. She sighs as he pulls away, and for a second, he wanted to fuck it all and pull her away from the crowd to really kiss her, but he’s here for more important matters. “Are your parents still here?”

She nods, biting her lip, and takes his hand in hers to take him to them. She stops just feet away from them to turn around and step in front of him. “They’re going to love you.” He nods and swallows hard as she turns back around to call out to her parents. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet somebody. This is Danny Castellano, my boyfriend.”

Danny extends out a steady hand to her parents and shakes their hands. He hopes they can’t tell his palms are clammy as all get out, so he offers her mother a bottle of wine and her father a book on the Red Sox. It puts him in their good graces enough that they insist he call them Sonu and Tarun. 

“So you’re the one who got my Mindy pregnant?” Tarun eyes.

“Yes, sir,” he admits, not trusting himself to call him Tarun just yet. He pulls Mindy closer to him and lays a hand over her stomach, hopefully showing her parents that he’s really in this, but also needing to feel sane because he can sense the line of questioning coming ahead.

But it never comes, and Tarun extends another hand out to him, telling him to take care of Mindy while they're away. Sonu says that she can tell he makes Mindy happy and loves her very much, and it was nice to finally meet him. They flit away without another word, and Danny feels like he’s missed something.

“Was that it?” he asks Mindy as he turns to face her.

She shrugs a shoulder. “I suppose so, but that wasn’t so bad. I think it went great!” 

“Yeah. Hey, I’m gonna grab something to eat. Do you want anything?”

“Ooh yes, can you get me some samosas? Those bitches over there,” nudging her nose towards the gaggle of girls hovering in front of the samosa display, “have been cock blocking me all night. Maybe you can steal a few for me?”

He chuckles. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” He kisses her cheek and heads towards the food display. “Ladies, excuse me.” He addresses the group of girls with his best smile and they part like the Red Sea, and he successfully fills the small cocktail plate with the popular Indian dish. He turns back around and Mindy isn’t where he left her, so he takes the opportunity to approach her mother.

“Mrs. Lahiri?”

“Oh, Danny! How are you enjoying the festivities so far?”

“It’s a wonderful party. Thank you for having me. Again, my apologizes for my lateness.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’re happy you’re here.” He smiles shyly, and she asks him if there’s anything wrong. She’s perceptive, and it saves him from being the first to address it.

“I just want you to know that even though Mindy and I aren’t married, I don’t want you to think I’m not committed to her or that I won’t be there for her and our son.”

“Danny,” she says softly placing a hand on his shoulder, “I know. It is very clear you love her, and she loves you. I know you younger kids have different ideas on what a relationship can look like. Her father and I - we met at the altar and look at us 35 years later. All I am saying is that it doesn’t matter what you guys are as long as you’re happy.”

“You met him at the altar?”

She chuckles low at his shock. “Yes, we had an arranged marriage.”

“That’s incredible.”

“It is, and that is what makes love so great, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it is” he agrees. “Thank you, Mrs. Lahiri.”

“You’re welcome, dear. And please, call me Sonu.”

“Sonu,” he nods.

“Now, I think Mindy is looking for you.” She dips her head towards Mindy who’s doing a terrible job of pretending she’s not trying to eavesdrop. “She’s been eyeing those samosas all night. Go on.”

“Thank you,” he says one final time before weaving back into the crowd to reunite with Mindy. “A plate of samosas as you requested.”

“Ugh, yes, you’re the best.” She takes a hearty bite of her favorite snack. “What did you and my mom talk about?” 

“You, obviously.”

She smiles with a playful roll of her eyes. “Should’ve known.” After eating three samosas, she can feel the wave of exhaustion that comes with being too full, and he notices almost immediately.

“Tired?” She nods, resting her head on his shoulder and sighing. “Do you want to go back to the hotel room?”

“Yeah.” She procures a hotel key card from her sari and he looks a little horrified. “You can hide anything in here,” she laughs.

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that. Come on, let’s go.” They reach the hotel room where Danny kicks off his shoes and loosens his tie, and Mindy immediately lies down on the bed. It’s a stark and beautiful contrast against the white sheets, and he smiles fondly, admiring her before urging her to get up and get ready for bed. 

She stands up from the bed, adjusting her sari out of habit again, but that’s as far as she’ll go. “No, it’s gonna take forever. I don’t wanna,” she whines. As uncomfortable as it is to have tons of fabric tucked in everywhere while pregnant, taking it off is just not in the cards this evening.

“It can’t be that bad.”

She scoffs. “Oh, sweet, naive Daniel.” He starts unraveling the fabric at her shoulder, and he already hits a snag. “There’s a safety pin. You need to take that out.” 

He removes the pin, careful not to poke her, and sets it on the bedside table. He lets the fabric fall loose onto the ground, and he looks perplexed as to how the rest of her dress is still intact. He studies all the pleats and tucks, and his head spins even trying to think how it got on. “Not as straight forward as you thought, huh?”

He continues to carefully untuck fabric from her waist and sees another pin, placing it next to the other one on the table. “Why are there so many safety pins? This can’t be normal.”

“Well, we need to use something to keep everything in place! Just deal with it.”

The length of the fabric gets longer and longer as the pleats come undone that he can’t imagine there being an ending. “How long is this thing anyway? 25 feet?!”

She laughs. “Yeah, actually. That’s pretty accurate.” 

He finally removes her sari, but she’s still wearing her short sleeve top and a floor length skirt, which he assumes is much easier to manage than yards and yards of fabric. Mindy steps out of her heels and heads to the bathroom, peeling away layer after layer of clothing as she goes. She emerges in a simple oversized shirt that doubles as a nightgown and curls into his side, finally feeling comfortable.

They fall asleep together, and when he wakes up early the next morning, he takes advantage of the extra time to finish up some last minute errands before they head back to New York. He climbs back into bed, which shifts under his weight, and it wakes Mindy up, eyes still closed as she stretches against him. 

He places a small box on her pillow, the weight of it pulling the pillowcase slightly away from her face, and it piques her interest enough that she opens her eyes. She grins widely at him, and he hopes she says yes.


End file.
